Chair rack



June" 6, 1933. STANNARD 1,912,864

1 CHAIR RACK Filed Aug. 20, 1931 o f I 3 BRUCE M. STAHHARD Z5 INVENTORATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Bacon M.STANNLARD, or BiNeHAMroN, new YORK, Ass-Ie-Non TO 11. fm BREWER;:rrrcunmm CORPORATION, or CORTLAND, new YORK, A conronIA'rIoN on NEWYORK CHAIR RACK Application filed. August 20, 1931. Serial 110,558,221.

The present invention relates to individual portable truck-like vehicleunits, more particularly one intended to service, transport andcompactly store away a group of fold 5 ing "seats after they have beenremoved and cleared from a convention hall or the like assembly places.d

When not in use, the intent is to stow away each truck load of foldedchairs in some convenient storage place, there to keep such stackedchair units inreadiness for convenient transfer until needed, whereuponthe truck may readily be unloaded and its chairs set up for use, allwithout scufling door frames, marring the floor coveringsor doin};damage to the chairs themselves.

The truck herein contemplated represents anew departure in storagepractice and the same underlying principles may also be applied to thepacking and compactly carry ing ofany similar flat faced members otherthan folding chairs. For present purposes, my truck may comprise acrate-likeframe Work affording a pair of raised top-rails adapted tohave folding chairs compactly suspended thereacross. This framework ispreferably carried upon suitable rollers in order to allow of moreeasily transporting such stacked chair loads from room to room or fromfloor to floor of a building and thus reduce labor and otherchairhandling expenses to a minimum.

The object of my improvements is to provide for a comparatively lightweight and sturdy truck framework of this general character that shall'prove'durable and otherwise adequate when subjected to hard usage,particularly as applied torelatively heavy chairs of the foldable metaltype. To this end, my stackable chairs may be equipt withoutwardlyprojecting brackets or complementary supporting earsrespectively adapted to rest upon the top-rails of the truck and allowthe depending folded chair portions to be mounted in close adjacency,that is to say, my chairs arepurposely hung and stowed away in verticalside-by-side relationship and without need of specialpartitions or otherextraneous spacing means. The suspended CllfillS themselves are herelnmade to increasingly interlock the open ended rails against spread indirect proportion to the carried load and kept in stable equilibriumrelative to the underslung base.

My invention further consists in novel structural features and in thecooperative relation of component parts thereof adapted to allow ofcompletelyfilling the entire rail length without prop interference, mycrate being especially designed to carry a folded chair in which theover all dimension of its outstanding suspension fixtures is keptsubstantially confined within the chair leg width, all of which willhereinafter be set forth in detail. Reference is had to the accompanyingone sheet of drawing that is illustrative of a specific embodiment, inwhich like characters of reference indicate like parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 represents a perspective View of my truck assembly partiallyloaded with stacked chairs while Figs. 2 and 3, respectively show atopand an elevational side view thereof uponremoval of said chairs.

Fig. {1 depicts an end view of Fig.1 filled with foldable chairs.

Fig. 5 illustrates a gusset plate detail serving to mount castersthereunder.

Fig. 6 is a sideelevationof an opened metal folding chair that is suitedfor stacking purposes in my truck, while Fig. 7 is a fragmental viewofthe folded seat of such chair.

Referring first to Fig. 1, my truck frame is preferably built-up fromangle-irons into a crate-like structure designated in its entirety as10, and may comprise a pair of spaced base bars 11 and 12 together withcomplementary end-bars 13 and 14, upon whose respective corner regionsthere may be erected pairs of mated uprights or props such as 15 and 16.Across the uppermost ends of these respective prop pairs, there aresecured parallelly spaced top-rails 17 and 18, preferably of thecrosssectionally Z-shaped type, each affording a horizontalupturnedflange portion 19 which may be spacedly notched out as at 20A,2013, etc. For reasons that will presently appear, each such upstandingflange is preferably arranged to inwardly overhang its respectiveupholding prop, as shown.

The base members of my frame may be reenforcecl relative to theirrespective props, by means of cross-braces such as 21 and 22. Eachcorner region of my rectangular base member may further be provided witha gusset plate 23 of which the complementary forward pair of such webplates is made to mount swivel casters 24, while adjacent to thecomplementary rear pair of plates there is carried a cross shaftprovided with a modified style of rollers 25, as shown.

Referring now more specifically to a folding chair structure which isadapted to be compactly stacked into my truck, this may i be of theinverse folding metal type that is more fully disclosed in my priorPatent No. 1,774,190 granted August 26, 1930. As outlined in Fig. 6hereof, such an all-metal chair may comprise complementary scissor-likefolding elements including a pair of front leg straps 26 and also rearleg straps 27 of which the front legs are each disposed outermost andprovided with sleevelike foot tips, such as 37. The respective uppermostextremities of said front legs are shown extended for pivotal attachmentto the back panel 28 While the upper terminals of the rear legspivotally carry the seat panel 29. The respective panels are shownhingedly connected at 30 and the respective rear corner regions of saidseat panel may each be provided with an oppositelyprojecting hook-likemember or complementary stop lug such as 31 and 32, which in myillustrative example, also serve to limit the spread on part of theopened chair leg structure.

The foldable chair panels are preferably brought face to face in thefashion shown in Figs. 1 and 7.

When the chair is folded, said lugs assume the position indicated inFig. 7 and are at the same time made to constitute oppositely disposedsuspension ears for stacking these folded chairs within the cratestructure of my truck. Fig. 4 shows the manner in which the hook jaw orgap 36 of each such suspension lug is kept aligned to interlockinglyengage the rear edge of its contiguous front leg strap 26 when theunfolded chair is placed in operative position. Each hook extremity orbill is well rounded and extends but slightly beyond its hook gap toobviate catching the clothes of a seat user. The problem herein solvedis one in which a rack is suitably clesigned to suspend a folded chairby means of ear lugs that are primarily designed for chair purposes andin which the hook bill is kept confined within the overall leg width 1(see Fig. 6).

The lateral spacing W2 between the crate props 15-15 is preferably madesomewhat wider than the dimension VVl to avoid prop interference.Between each ear lug and its adjacent depending rear leg strap, thefolded chair discloses a nichelike recess adapted to receive one of theinset rail flanges therein and thus allow the widest chair portion to befreely suspended in an underlying depending relation to the respectiveside-rails, said rails being spaced apart to a lesser distance than theoverall chair width W1.

In packing said crate, it is preferred to slide the folded chairslengthwise of the open ended top rails rather than have to bodily liftsuch relatively heavy chairs over one such rail. As indicated, therespective suspension lugs may be dropped into mesh with mated pairs ofnotches in the fashion shown in Fig. 1. The respective hook gaps arecooperatively received by the upturned flanges to prevent undue spreadon part of the loaded top rails. Said hooks may also be made to engage acontiguous rail notch so as to restrain one or more of the suspendedseats against endwise rail movement. It will be apparent that any chairsnot so provided with the cited stop lugs, may readily be equipt withequivalent supplen'ientary ears or the like fixtures in order to affordthe desired suspension means for vertically stacking such chairs into mytransportable crate device.

It is preferred to similarly fill up the entire free spacing providedlengthwise of the side-rails; where a dozen or more chairs are sostacked, they may be made to bulge out and extend slightly beyond theconfines of the end posts 16 and 17 For supplementary retaining means, Iprovide for a tiltable clamping lever 33 across each end of my crate, ofwhich levers one such may be pivoted to the prop 15 and made toreleasably interlock with the latch stud 34: carried by the opposite endpost. In the position shown in dotted lines, the closed lever 33 crowdstogether the interposed seats against relative movement, whichfacilitates noiseless transport and obviates undue rubbing or wearbetween adjacent chair faces. If desired, suitable rubber buffers (notshown) may also be utilized to maintain the chairs in separatedrelation.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I am enabled satisfactorilyto dispose of considerable quantities of folding chairs within smallspace when not in use, and to hold such chairs in readiness for set upupon short notice. By virtue of the defined vertical suspension, itmerely becomes necessary to individually lift the folded chairs buttwice; once while being stacked in the truck for storage and again whilebeing unloaded for use, it being emphasized that the complementary earlugs 31 and 32 preferably constitute the sole means of suspension forsaid chairs and that the stacked chairs hang freely therefrom.

It is to be understood that the described chair truck also findsapplication to other similar purposes, also that the use of framerollers is a non-essential expedient, and it will be obvious thatvarious changes or structural details may be resorted to in likewisecarrying out the present embodiment, all without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention heretofore described and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

I claim:

1. In a stowage rack for packing therein similar folding chairs or thelike articles that are respectively equipt with oppositely disposedsuspension fixtures of the hook type, said rack comprising a rectangularbase framework having a prop erected at each corner region thereof, andfurther comprising a pair of laterally spaced top rails supportedbetween said props in an open ended and inwardly overhanging relation toprovide for a lesser spacing between said rails than the lateral spacinggiven between the props thereof and which rails are interlockinglyreenforced against spread in direct proportionto the article weightsuspended thereacross.

2. In a stowage rack for packing therein a plurality of similar foldingchairs or the like articles that are respectively equipt with oppositelydisposed suspension fixtures of the 7 book type, said rack comprising arectangular base framework having a prop erected at each corner regionthereof,and further comprising a pair of laterally spaced top railsrespectively including a notched upturned flange supported between saidprops in an inwardly overhanging relation to provide for a lesser flangespacing than the lateral spacing given between the props thereof andwhich rails are interlockingly reenforced against spread in directproportion to the article weight suspended thereacross.

In testimony whereof, I have herewith set my hand this 17th day ofAugust, 1931.

BRUCE M. STANNARD.

